Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is a global practice of architects, designers, engineers, and planners, responsible for some of the world’s most technically and environmentally advanced buildings and significant public spaces. The firm’s approach is highly collaborative, and its interdisciplinary team is engaged in a wide range of international projects, with creative studios based across the globe.
In 2026, SOM was named one of the Most Innovative Companies in Architecture by Fast Company and received the Equality 100 Award: Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
The firm’s portfolio includes numerous innovative landmark towers, including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, One World Trade Center in New York, and Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, as well as large-scale urban planning initiatives that integrate density, mobility, and sustainability—including the award-winning Sultan Haitham City in Muscat, Oman, and the recently unveiled masterplan for Bradfield City, Australia’s first new city in more than a century.
Established in Basel in 1978, Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron together with Senior Partners Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler, Stefan Marbach, and Jason Frantzen. An international team of over 500 collaborators including the two Founders, five Senior Partners, ten Partners, and 50 Associates work on projects across Europe, the Americas and Asia. Our main office in Basel is supported by our studios in Germany in Berlin and Munich; in Hong Kong; in the UK in London; and in the USA in New York and San Francisco; and by our site offices in Copenhagen and Paris.
The practice has designed a wide range of projects from the small scale of a private home to the large scale of urban design. Many projects are highly recognized public facilities, such as museums, stadiums, and hospitals, and they have completed distinguished private projects including offices, laboratories and apartment buildings. Awards received include the Pritzker Architecture Prize (USA) in 2001, the RIBA Royal Gold Medal (UK), the Praemium Imperiale (Japan), both in 2007, and the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (USA) in 2014.
Sordo Madaleno is a third-generation Mexican architecture studio, founded in 1937, now working between Mexico City and London. We practice architecture as generosity—shaping spaces where terrain, tradition, and memory thrive together. Our process is rigorous and iterative, guided by deep study rather than fixed style. From hospitality to culture and civic space, we design at human scale with materials that carry meaning, creating environments that feel rooted, welcoming, and generationally enduring.